Page 35 of In Control

“Liam?”

“I didn’t know …” I say, softly. “He’s your …” I swallow.

“Packmate.”

I nod.

Fuck. I feel woozy, my head spinning.

I like Liam. I like him a lot.

I also like Professor Cole, far more than I should.

“I’m going to go,” I say, but I don’t move because as I say the words, Liam comes bounding into the room.

He throws me a big spine-tingling grin, slapping the professor on the shoulder, and then stepping towards me. He gathers me up in his arms, squeezing my arse and nuzzling my neck. “Good morning, sexy.”

Over Liam's shoulder, my gaze flicks to the professor. He looks a million times more angry than he did even two seconds ago. His hands are bunched in tight fists, his jaw so tight it might snap and his brow so heavy it could support entire cities. He looks like a man about to commit murder.

I stroke Liam’s cheek and wriggle free of his grasp.

“Is this some kind of fucked up game you’re playing, Sophia?” the professor spits. Liam flinches at his aggressive tone and turns to face him, puzzlement written all over his bemused face.

“What?” he mumbles.

“Or are you toying with me, Stand?”

Liam frowns at his packmate’s aggressive tone.

“Would you like to rewind here, mate? What the fuck are you all wound up about?”

The professor points an accusing finger at me. “This is the beta. The one I was telling you about … but I’m wondering if you already knew that.”

Liam swings his gaze to me with shock.

“I didn’t know,” I say. Although, why the hell am I defending myself here? I’m not interested in getting involved in fights between alphas. This is what I always expected a pack to be like. You can’t tell me numerous, jacked-up men won’t spend their whole time squaring up to one another, fighting, squabbling, trying to assert their dominance.

Yep, not interested in that shitshow.

Last night was amazing.

Liam is amazing.

But the baggage here? Far too heavy for me to be interested in lifting.

I learned long ago to leave when things start to get messy, and even then you might not get away unscathed. This is more than messy.

Liam never told me about his omega. He never told me about the professor. I should’ve known not to trust the smooth and charming act. I’ve fallen for that before.

I’m out of here.

“She fucking set this up,” the professor riles his packmate. “She’s playing games. To get at me.”

“Don’t talk about her like that, Cole.”

I push past them both.

“Where are you going?” Liam calls.

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